Only for the show to ruin that when it does a time skip at around the 5 episode mark. Then all of the characters just grow up to become the exact troupe they were alluding to minus all the depth and charm. The only thing Catarina managed to change is that they're troupes who now also worship the ground Catarina walks on. woooooo
Sure Catarina was still a mary sue as a child. But it makes a huge difference when the cast are more just genuinely happy about forming a bond with a friend as children than trying to get in her pants 24/7 as teenagers. I really do think the time skip was done for fanservice because obviously we can't have a harem anime without 4 guys (and some girls) slamming her against a wall seductively while she acts like every other oblivious harem protagonist. It's what appeals to the lowest common denominator. The show's momentum died sometime at around episode 5 or 6 just to become another slice-of-life harem where none of the characters have any personality except "wants to please Catarina."
I hate that the show did this. It had some good stuff going for it in the beginning. The whole "would-be harem but from before all the characters grew up" proved itself to be a way more substantial premise than the whole "reincarnated as a villain" thing. The former actually presented some good storytelling beats. The latter was just a gimmick to try to differentiate this isekai harem from the 997317384 other isekai harem just to be exactly the same except for some 2-second running gags that got boring after the 30th time they happened.
Of course, I'm not saying that the second concept can't make for a good series at all. In the hands of someone else, it could've been amazing. The issue is that this series in particular executes it horribly. First of all, the title claiming that all routes lead to doom is a complete lie. Only 2 of them do and both of them are resolved within the first 2 episodes. Second of all, Catarina being so perfect that she manages to fix everyone's problems just by being "nice" is power fantasy at its finest, sure, but offers absolutely zero rising tension for the remaining 90% of the show. I wanted to see her screw up at least once. I wanted to see her teeter around different routes based on her personality and growth, but nope.
I think there was one scene with the prince-guy that I didn't bother memorizing the name of which perfectly summarizes this entire show. I won't go into specifics of the context to avoid spoilers. He was talking to Catarina about a certain type of magic that can manipulate people based on the hatred or jealousy in their hearts. This was one of the major plot points of the season. Then he goes on to say, and I kid you not, that Catarina "has no hatred or jealousy" which is why she's immune to the magic. That's it. That's the entire show and how it deals with every single one of its conflicts in a nutshell. That's what makes Catarina an absolutely horrible one-dimensional protagonist. If there's a problem, Catarina-jesus-sama will fix it.
The first five episodes are around an 8 out of 10 for me. The last seven episodes are an easy mediocre 3 out of 10. According to weighted average where 5 episodes out of 12 is approximately 42% of the show, my final score would be 5.1 out of 10.
